Name: The Perfect Mile
ISBN: 9780618562091

Neal Bascomb

A stirring account of athleticism in the face of adversity follows the remarkable journey of three young men--John Landy, Wes Santee, and Roger Bannister--who suffered defeat at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 but nevertheless vowed to break the four-minute mile, training tirelessly to accomplish their goal. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve it

The Perfect Mile

Jeni Enjaian

This book was utterly fascinating. Even if I weren't a runner, I would have been entranced by this book and the story of the pursuit of the 4 minute mile. (Spoiler: It is so much more than that!)

The publisher could have found a much better narrator but the book was more than good enough to make up for that. Bascomb weaves a beautiful story, masterfully telling the story of three very different runners and all the colorful minor characters that supplemented the runners' journeys. Even though I knew that Bannister would ultimately snag the ultimate honor of breaking that 4 minute barrier, I couldn't help but root for Santee and Landy, especially for Santee (even though he was a bit of a jock) who probably had the most natural talent but was ultimately unable to break that barrier.

This book also made me wish that spectators would get into running races such as the mile, other track and field events and other road races like the marathon like they were during this utterly captivating pursuit of a barrier once thought impossible to surpass.

This is a book that's going on my wish list. I need to own it. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves sports and especially to all runners.

Elad Schulman

This was really interesting, and a sports story that I was unfamiliar with! The book was written really well, and overall I really enjoyed it!

Vivek Chand

L A-T

Sarah Ryan

There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed, and in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier. Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur — still driven not just by winning but by the nobility of the pursuit. John Landy was the privileged son of a genteel Australian family, who as a boy preferred butterfly collecting to running but who trained relentlessly in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his body to this singular task. Then there was Wes Santee, the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete who believed he was just plain better than everybody else. Spanning three continents and defying the odds, their collective quest captivated the world and stole headlines from the Korean War, the atomic race, and such legendary figures as Edmund Hillary, Willie Mays, Native Dancer, and Ben Hogan. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire, Neal Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.

The Perfect Mile Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve it

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